I’m gonna start off by telling you that I am completely and totally biased on the art of Ian Johnson. I love it. I love it because I love jazz. I love jazz eventhough my parents look at me like they’re trying to make my head explode with their minds when I listen to it around them. No form of music effects me as much as jazz. And unfortunately for all of you Ian Johnson paints jazz musicians. There goes my objectivity.
The truth is that Ian Johnson doesn’t just paint jazz musicians, he paints them the way their music feels. And somehow it’s still a portrait. Maybe it’s his simple colors and backgrounds, or maybe it’s his use of only black to sketch in the figure, or maybe it’s the moments that he captures, but whatever the reason, his paintings sound like jazz to me. They make me hear the loneliness that underlies most jazz. It’s a loneliness that comes of being obsessed with your instrument and your music, so much so that you tune out everything but. Jazz is lonely because it’s only interested in making itself more pure, and doesn’t have time for any of the day-to-day. But it also feels the joy of living no matter how hard staying alive can be. Ian Johsnon’s work shoots a straight, simple feeling right into your heart, and that’s what jazz is all about.
Rachel | 04-Mar-07 at 9:01 am | Permalink
Of all the artists you posted on this page, he is my favorite. Amazing. Simple yet so detailed.